Kinds of Subjunctive Mood in English Grammar

In English grammar, the mood indicates the attitude of the writer. There are different types of mood in English grammar such as imperative mood, indicative mood and subjunctive mood. The subjunctive mood is a verb form that is used in a situation which is not factual or doubtful. In simple words, when the verb is in the subjunctive mood, then it expresses different states of unreality or unreal situations, including wish, opinion, emotion, judgment, action, possibility, demand, regret, proposal, etc. It starts with the word ‘if’ and commonly found in a clause.

Uses of Subjunctive Mood

• It is used after a wish, if, as if.

• It is used after the different types of verbs such as recommend, ask, suggest, command, insist, propose, etc.

• It is used after the expressions such as it is important, it is necessary, it is desirable, etc.

Subjunctive statements mostly denote an action which is in the future and hence the tenses will be applied in a different manner. In other words, tense of indicative verbs may be changed, but the tense of subjunctive verbs indicating a futuristic action does not change.

For example:

• I wish finance minister could give more tax rebate.

• I suggest he implements the design as given in the magazine.

When ‘if’ clause is used as a subjunctive verb, the statements become trickier. As there is no surety of action being performed, we cannot have any tense. For example, if I were to become VP in next 10 years, I would make changes in the work culture.

People often tend to make an error when they use “to be” in the subjunctive mood. The correct usage would be to use “be” in the present tense and “were” in the past tense irrespective of the subject.

For example:

• It will be good if hearing of the case is postponed.

• If I were rich, I would buy the palatial building and build a swimming pool on top floor.